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Russia imposed trade restrictions on Ankara after the incident and had said they will not be lifted unless Erdogan apologised

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has written to Russian leader Vladimir Putin to apologise over the shooting down of a Russian air force jet by Turkey's military, the Kremlin said today.

After the Russian jet was shot down in November last year near the Syrian-Turkish border, Russia imposed trade restrictions on Ankara. Putin had said they would not be lifted unless Erdogan apologised over the incident.

There was no immediate comment from Ankara.

In a statement, the Kremlin said Putin had received a letter from Erdogan "in which the Turkish leader expressed his desire to resolve the situation connected to the downing of a Russian military aircraft."

"The letter states, in particular, that Russia is a friend to Turkey and a strategic partner, with which the Turkish authorities would not wish to spoil relations," the Kremlin statement said.

It cited Erdogan as saying in the letter: "I want to once again express my sympathy and deep condolences to the family of the Russian pilot who died and I say: 'I'm sorry.'"

The Turkish Lira firmed to 2.9330 against the US Dollar from 2.9430 beforehand after the Kremlin said Erdogan had expressed his regret.